4.9 Challenges to Sovereignty

Devolution can create autonomous regions or new subnational units with their own governments. Spain has 17 autonomous communities, including Catalonia and the Basque Country, with their own parliaments. Belgium became a federal state with three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels-Capital) and separate Dutch-, French- and German-speaking communities. Canada's provinces hold strong powers, and Quebec selects many of its own immigrants. Nigeria has grown from three regions to 36 states, partly to give more ethnic groups a state of their own. The UK created devolved parliaments for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland starting in 1999.

Sometimes a state disintegrates. The Soviet Union dissolved into 15 countries in 1991. In Sudan, after decades of civil war between the government in the north and rebels in the south, South Sudan voted for independence in January 2011, with about 99% in favor, and became independent that July.

Phones, the internet and social media make it easier for people to share information and organize across distance. That helps three processes. It aids devolution, since separatist movements can rally supporters and reach diaspora communities. It aids democratization, the spread of democratic government. During the Arab Spring of 2010–2011, social media helped protesters in Tunisia and Egypt organize. It aids supranationalism, since governments and organizations can coordinate instantly.

Technology cuts both ways. Governments also use internet shutdowns, censorship and surveillance to control movements.

Supranationalism is when three or more countries join together in an organization for shared goals and agree to follow its decisions. Countries join to address problems no single state can solve, like climate change, pandemics and terrorism. They also join to build economies of scale and bigger markets through trade agreements, and to protect each other through military alliances. In return, they accept limits on their freedom to act alone.

Some people argue that supranational bodies take too much power from elected national governments. The United Kingdom voted in 2016 to leave the EU and left on January 31, 2020, in a move known as Brexit, with supporters arguing it restored national control over laws, trade and immigration. Supporters of supranationalism argue that shared rules bring peace, larger markets and solutions to common problems.